For the ninth time, Judge Memorial Catholic High School is hosting students from a sister high school in Chemnitz, Germany. Twelve German exchange students arrived in Salt Lake on March 9 and will be at Judge through March 24. Chemnitz is located in what was previously East Germany.

Judge Memorial has participated in GAPP (German American Partnership Program) since 1994. The partnership between the two schools and began as a collaboration between two colleagues, language teacher Art Holder from Judge Memorial and English teacher Heike Junghans from Chemnitz. In odd-numbered years, the students from Chemnitz travel to Judge in the spring. In the summer of even-numbered years, Holder takes the Judge students who hosted the Chemnitz students to Germany. The Judge group is in Germany for about four weeks. While there, they live with the families of the students they hosted and attend classes at the local Gymnasium (college prep high school).

“Our German friends have been favorably impressed by the reception they have received in the past and this year is no different,” said Holder. “We have student hosts from all of our German classes, and indeed across the curriculum. This is a great learning experience for them, and for our entire school.”

Junghans affiliation with Utah goes back before the GAPP collaboration. She was on a Fulbright Exchange in Utah from 1992 to 1993, and spent a large portion of that time here in Salt Lake City. She also taught German and Russian for the Granite School District.

“I have always loved Utah - the people and the landscape,” said Junghans. “It had always been a dream of mine to bring students to this beautiful state and GAPP provided the perfect opportunity. The GAPP program affords the students a chance not to just be a tourist in the United States, but to delve into the lifestyle.”

As part of the two-week program, the German students have prepared oral presentations, in English, about German culture. The exchange students are required to give their presentations to classes while at Judge. The reports are given in any class, and the topics include: Saxony, the home state of the students; Chemnitz, the home town; German school life; customs and traditions in German; a history of Germany divided; and free-time activities of German young people.

Following their classroom experience, Junghans will take the GAPP students on a brief tour of the southwest. They will first travel to Bryce and Zions National Parks to enjoy hiking and exploration. A quick stop in Las Vegas is next as they make their way to Los Angeles. The group will be in Los Angeles for a few days before they begin their journey back home to Germany.

Serving as hosts for the students from Chemnitz are the following Judge Memorial students:

• Lucas Brugger
• Emily Burden
• Kelsey Cavanaugh
• Harrison Fitch
• Taylor Green
• Emma Kitterer Smith
• Liz Lewis
• Chris Oswald
• Owain Rice
• Seth Rockenbach
• Natalie Warner
• Richard Vunder

Judge Memorial currently offers students five options in foreign language study: French, German, Latin, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

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